


Diet Coke

by Antigonesev



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Rickyl Writers' Group
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 11:06:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antigonesev/pseuds/Antigonesev
Summary: A coke machine on the fritz. Two love-lorn schoolboy vandals. Teacher Rick gets a freebie soda and shares it with Handyman Daryl. A quick and sweet one shot High School AU fic.





	Diet Coke

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone at RWG, and most especially the last minute beta job done by Justley. You're awesome!

The clang went unheard in the break room a moment before Rick Grimes walked in, jiggling his pocket change. Not noticing the surprise bonus in the basket, he entered his money and pushed his selection.

 

“Hmm?” Rick asked, surprised at the find. A freebie, a Diet Coke sitting all alone with his Cherry Coke. He hated Diet Coke, but he knew someone who drank the stuff like it was coffee.

 

Daryl Dixon; the handyman at the school. Rick had been eyeing Daryl for a long while now, since the man had come in to fix the sagging roof in the corner of his classroom. Several students had commented on how fast he worked, and how cool he looked in that leather vest after school when he rode his motorcycle home.

 

Perhaps, this was it, Rick thought. His chance at last.

 

Rick leaned down and pulled up both sodas, sliding them in one hand so he could pick up his messenger bag that contained his lunch Carl and Judith had decided to surprise him with today.He wasn’t sure what the kids had packed for him, but he was touched nonetheless by their sweet gesture. After all, today was one of the harder days, since Lori had left the family for a new life with Shane on the other side of Georgia. Rick had known Shane wanted to transfer, but didn’t know Lori had wanted to go along with him. The past three years had been difficult, but he and the children had grown into a well-oiled machine without Lori, and Rick already felt ready to start eyeing other potential partners. What surprised him, was that he had apparently developed a taste for Daryl Dixon, the handyman at Harkness High.

 

As he turned to leave the staff room, Rick smiled and waved at Carol, who worked as the front desk receptionist. She and Daryl were good friends, the two of them would often be seen chatting during break times. The Security Officer, Abraham, another friend of Daryl’s, was making his rounds.

 

“Daryl on break yet?” Rick asked Abraham, holding up the coke. “I got a freebie, so… figured he’d want it.” Rick smiled gently at Carol, while Abraham leaned over the counter. He was eyeing the entryway where some kids were laughing and chatting, playfully pushing each other around.

 

“Yeah, I think he’s in the North building. He said he’d take his lunch there, there’s a leak in the boy’s room. “Carol said with an amused chuckle as she typed away at the computer. “Reedus and his boyfriend were at it again and broke the sink. Michonne had to suspend them _again.”_

 

“Oh, Andy and Normy? I’ve seen that written on the bathroom walls. Daryl mentioned it a time or two.” Abraham said with a laugh. “The two of ‘em are in my office once a week at least, usually for smoking or indecency.”

 

“Oh- right.” Rick said with a small laugh. He wasn’t familiar enough with the students yet, but he knew the couple- an adorable senior and his boyfriend, who couldn’t keep their hands off of each other enough to pay attention in classes. To the point where the school counselor, Father Gabriel, had to make sure their schedules did not share ANY classes at all except for lunch period, and even that was a potential problem. “I’ll just bring Daryl a thank-you present, then, for not outright murdering those two.” Rick held up the Diet Coke.

 

“Man, he’ll -” Abe began, and turned to glare at Carol with a muffled yelp.

 

“Sure, go right ahead, sweetie. Bring him this, please? Sophia held them for him, and said he had to share it with someone, so..” Carol said with a sweet smile, handing him a box of girl-scout cookies, the kind that was chocolate-covered peanut butter. “He loves these, along with the Samoas.” Carol handed him a purple box to go with the red.

 

“Well.. why don’t I get a few boxes from Sophia? I know Carl and Judy love these.” Rick said with a smile and nod as he put his new items in the bag, which was growing heavier by the minute. Rick waved at Abraham and Carol, trying not to hurry away too quickly, lest they think he was …. _Up to something._

 

“Daryl?” Rick asked, as he entered the staff room in the North building of Harkness, blinking at the slight dark and cavernous interior. “I thought you might like something to brighten up.. Things.” Rick trailed off, feeling lame the minute Daryl’s blue eyes landed on him.

 

“Hm?” Daryl asked, his brows rising as he glanced at the over-packed messenger bag at Rick’s hip. Rick smiled and pulled out the girl-scout cookies. Daryl’s brows rose further and a small smile lit up his eyes. “Sophia?”

 

“Carol said you had to share with someone- but I brought something with me to share with you as well… fair’s fair, right?” Rick said with a small smile. Rick was surprised at this sudden bout of confidence. He had never been this blatant with anyone before, much less Daryl himself. They had only kept their encounters work-related and professional… Rick found himself reaching for the Diet Coke and holding it up.

 

“ _Ahhhh._ Coke machine still on the fritz?” Daryl said with a spark in his eye as he climbed down the ladder from whatever he had been working on in the ceiling panel. “Thanks, Reedus vandalized the bathroom again, and I’ve been needing a drink- this will do.” Rick blinked at Daryl, surprised at his chattiness. Daryl had never been a chatty cathy, and suddenly… they were sharing snacks and talking quietly in a dark staff room.

 

“What did he write this time?”

   

“Something about RWG. I think it’s his boyfriend’s name.” Daryl said with a grunt as he snapped open his soda with a fizz.

 

“Make sense. They’re crazy for each other.” Rick smiled a small smile, putting the bag on a table and pulling out a chair. “Sit down- let’s just enjoy the quiet.” Rick said with a smile and a wink that seemed to come out of nowhere. Daryl blinked for a moment, then smiled a faint smile, pulling out a mismatched chair from a nearby reading nook. The two men sat in silence, eating and sneaking glances at each other, like lovelorn schoolboys trying to hide their not-so-secret crushes on each other.

 

“Uh-” Rick began, as Daryl opened his mouth.

 

“I…”

 

“Pizza and a movie Friday? I don’t want to watch that new zombie flick alone. Kids are with their mom this weekend. Got too many girl scout cookies to eat alone, too..” Rick babbled, trying not to make a fool of himself with the sudden surge of courage he had dredged up at the bottom of his coke can and wondering if he could get the cookies from Sophia in time for the weekend- he didn’t want to admit he had lied about the cookies.

 

After a long pause, Daryl slowly nodded. “As long as I bring some beer.” With a wink, the handyman was back up the ladder, but not before he peered down at Rick.

 

“And stop staring at my ass- you’ll have more time later after school.” At that, the man was gone back up into the dark where he had come from. The sound of the bell ringing brought Rick back to his senses. He felt as if he had just experienced an out-of-body moment. Or lunch break, thought Rick as he hurriedly cleaned up their lunch and hurried off to his sixth period inmates- students, he corrected himself as he sauntered through the door.

 

“Five points, Reedus. Sit down before I take them away.” Rick said as he raised his dry-erase marker to the whiteboard and began his lesson, letting the confused blond boy in the back row fidget with his sunglasses all class period long. _It was worth it_ , thought Rick as he smiled to himself. Thanks to the troublemakers, he had gotten himself a date with the handyman.

 

 _Handyman, indeed_ … thought Rick as the lesson began.


End file.
